India remains Russia’s closest strategic partner: Alexander Kadakin

Maintaining that Indo-Russian ties were as good as ever, the Russian Ambassador asked the media to refrain from sensationalism.

India should not worry about Russia’s
increasing ties with China and Pakistan since New Delhi remains Moscow’s closest
strategic partner, Alexander Kadakin, Russia’s Ambassador in India said on
Thursday.

On board the Marshal Shaposhnikov, which is
at the Mumbai Port for the Indra exercises, Kadakin dismissed media reports about the cooling of ties between
Russia and India as “absolute rubbish” and said the press was indulging in
sensationalism. While conceding that Russia would like better relations with
Pakistan, the ambassador said they would not come at the cost of relations with
India. “Pakistan as a sovereign nation is important to Russia and it has its
own independent value,” Kadakin said, “but as we have been repeatedly saying,
we will not supply them with anything that may be harmful to India...India is
our closest strategic partner.”

The Russian Ambassador said China, which
shares a 4000-plus kilometre border with Russia, is an important partner and
wished India would continue to improve its relations with its northern
neighbour. “The more we cooperate with the RIC (Russia-India-China) format, the
better it will be for the world,” Kadakin said. While suggesting that it would
be best for India and China to solve their border disputes, the Russian
ambassador maintained that these kinds of things tend to take time. “It took us
more than 30 years to regulate our border with China,” Kadakin said. China and
Russia signed a treaty in 2004 where Beijing
was handed the Tambarov Island half of the Bolshoi Ussuriski island,
both on the Amur River, as a final settlement to the border dispute between the
countries that dated back to the 19th century.

When asked about further cooperation
between Russia and India, the ambassador that the sky wasn’t the limit since
the countries have been cooperating even in outer space. “There isn’t a field
of human activity where India and Russia would not cooperate,” Kadakin said,
citing examples as diverse as India’s Moon mission and fifth generation fighter
aircraft. The ambassador was also
pleased with the growth in people-to-people contact between Russia and India,
adding that two-way tourism is on the increase.

Kadakin said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
upcoming visit to India is not a routine affair. Emphasising that Russia was
the first country to hold annual summits with India, the ambassador said the
yearly meetings bought “tangible results” in cooperation.

“Hopefully stage three and four of Kudankulam
will be settled because very active negotiations are taking place now,” the
ambassador said. India’s insistence to apply its new civil nuclear liability
law to these reactors has been to Russia’s chagrin. “We are not afraid of
‘liability,’ but at the same time, it is not fair when the Indian side has
asked for the same terms of credit, which was used in constructing the first
two reactors...and you plant liability on us,” he said.

When asked about whether the first reactor
of Kudankulam would go live when Putin visits India, Kadakin said that the
decision was India’s.

While reemphasising that the Vikramaditya
aircraft carrier would be delivered by the end of 2013, Kadakin called on the
India media not to dramatise the delays. “The Vikramaditya is a very
sophisticated lethal weapon system...it is practically a new ship and only the
frame is old,” the ambassador said adding that Russia wanted the aircraft
carrier to be completely ready and set before its handover to India. Displaying
the wit that has made him popular in India in a career that has included
several postings in the country, Kadakin said: “if you want to have a healthy
baby, it should not be born prematurely.”

While hailing India’s scientific and
technological progress, the Russian Ambassador said that Russia would continue
to share technology with India. “We are sharing our technology with you, unlike
other countries, who promise but do not share,” Kadakin said.